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Sunday, March 27, 2016

Drug
trafficking and drug abuse have emerged as one of the most serious organized
crimes in Cox’s Bazaar, causing incalculable costs on individuals,
families, communities, and governments. Drug traffickers are also draining huge
amount of money from Bangladesh to Myanmar through Hundi.
Media reports revealed that Myanmar’s businessmen have set up many factories in
the Shan Province, near Thailand border, to produce YABA targeting the domestic
market of Bangladesh. Bangladesh has already given a list of businessmen to
Myanmar about who is involved in the smuggling of narcotics in the Bangladesh
Myanmar border. If intelligence reports are to be believed the Nasaka is
directly or indirectly involved in this profitable business and for this reason
drug traffickers are easily crossing the border. Despite repeated appeals from
Bangladesh, they did not take any action to dismantle these factories.
The main strategic objective of Bangladesh is to connect itself with China and
other South East Asian countries using the territory of Myanmar. Bangladesh is
also interested to boost up its trade with the North Eastern States of India.
The geopolitical importance of Bangladesh will remain intact to India, China
and other South Asian countries if it can become a bridge between South Asia
and the South East Asian Countries.
The recent visit of the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Monmohan Singh to Myanmar
might have slightly uplifted the geopolitical importance of that country.
Myanmar has already undertaken three major port projects on the coast, one each
in collaboration with India, China and Thailand. The first project is the
Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMMTT) which will be implemented
by India revitalizing the abandoned Akyab port, presently known as Sittwe port,
in the Rakhine state.
The main objective of India is to connect Mizoram, via the Kaladan River with
this port. Further down the coast, also in Rakhine state, is the Kyaukphyu
project of China. To the south east of the country in the Tanintharyi Division,
Myanmar is building the Dawei port where Thailand as the lead nation for
implementation. Under recent agreements with Dr. Monmohan Singh, India will be
able to use this port in order to establish direct road connections with
Thailand and other South East Asian countries.
India also envisages developing a trilateral highway project between India,
Myanmar and Thailand, with a vision of inter-linking the Indian Ocean with the
South China Sea. It is a component of the Asian Highway, which is to be
compleated by 2016. This trilateral highway project will be constructed in line
with the Asian Highway one and two proposed by the United Nations Economic and
Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (UNESCAP).
It is important to note that the construction of the third route via Bangladesh
to Myanmar will largely depend on the consent of Myanmar. Bangladesh,
therefore, needs to undertake robust diplomacy to get cooperation from Myanmar
in order to open this route with an aim to connecting itself with the Asian
Highway. Myanmar has emerged as the major competitor of Bangladesh in utilizing
the advantage of geo strategic location as it is offering transit facilities to
India, China and other south East Asian countries. Thus, with the coming of the
Asian Highway, Myanmar will become the point of convergence as well as the
linking route between India, China and the South-East Asia as ‘Myanmar has
consistently opposed the southern route proposed by Bangladesh as part of Asian
Highway for reasons of national security.’
As such, Myanmar has taken aggressive measures to foster economic development
by promoting trade and foreign direct investment (FDI), power generation, oil
exploration as well as strengthening rail, road, and air connectivity. These
activities taken by Myanmar clearly indicate that this country wants to become
the hub of business activities in the forthcoming years. ‘Myanmar’s fortunes,
as reforms roll on, are likely to rest on how skillfully its leaders, whether
military or civilian, can make use of their geography.’
Another significant feature is that Chinese and Indian companies are sometimes
jointly working in various sectors of Myanmar. Meanwhile, Indian businesses
have already started participating in major Chinese projects in Myanmar. Punj
Lloyd, an Indian Company, is the major subcontractor in the project to build an
oil pipeline from the Bay of Bengal to Southwestern China.
India’s public companies, OVL and GAIL, have already ensured minority stakes in
Myanmar’s offshore hydrocarbon development projects that will supply energy to
China. The possibilities of rivalry between India and China on capturing the
resources of Myanmar are decreasing at this moment. Realizing the geo-strategic
and geo-economic importance of Myanmar, China and India have already ensured
their presence in the development process of Myanmar where Bangladesh remains
nowhere.
Bangladesh Myanmar relations are now at crossroads. Bangladesh needs to
inculcate a sense of trust into the mind of the present government of Myanmar
that the longstanding unresolved issues between these two countries would no
longer create hindrances in promoting economic prosperity. This economic
prosperity will harness mutual benefit for the common people of both the
countries. The policy makers in Bangladesh need to address some common areas
where both the countries can strengthen their cooperation.
In view of the present situation, Bangladesh should take some concrete steps to
boost up ties with Myanmar. These steps include diversification of the export
items of Bangladesh targeting the domestic market of Myanmar, establishment of
a smooth channel of financial transactions as well as building direct road and
air links between the two countries and signing of an inland water transport
protocol.
To deepen connectivity between the two countries, Bangladesh can proceed with
Myanmar in joint investment to build a hydroelectric project from where
electricity could be supplied to Bangladesh. It can also set up a fertilizer
plant under a joint investment where Myanmar might supply natural gas. Besides
taking bilateral initiatives, Bangladesh should also be active to improve
bilateral ties through certain regional and sub-regional forums, such as the
Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation
(BIMST-EC), the ASEAN Regional Forum and the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar
Forum (BCIM).
In her recent visit to Myanmar in December 2011, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
signed an agreement on the establishment of a Joint Commission for bilateral
cooperation between the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and
the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and a Memorandum of
Understanding on the establishment of a Joint Business Council (JBC) between
the Republic of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and
Industry (UMFCCI) and the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and
Industry (FBCCI).
These steps are important but not enough in view of the present pace of
transformation in the regional politics. The main strategic objective of
Bangladesh is to connect itself with the Asian Highway through Myanmar.
The success of this will strongly depend on solid bilateral relations based on
multifaceted economic and political cooperation between the two countries.
However, the prospect of this relationship depends on how Bangladesh can seize
the opportunities to expand its relations with the present government of
Myanmar. Bangladesh should learn the lessons from China and India and must
undertake a pragmatic approach to foster cooperative efforts and interconnectivity
which are considered as catalysts for economic growth and prosperity for the
entire region.
(concluded)